Top 5 country with the highest Gini Index, 2023

Highest Gini Index: South Africa (0.66)
Mean Gini Index (worldwide): 0.4

Top 5 country with the highest Civil Liberties Index, 2023

Highest Civil Liberties Index: Estonia (91.0)

Top 5 country with the lowest Civil Liberties Index, 2023

Lowest Civil Liberties Index: North Korea (5.78)

As shown in the line graph, Gini Indexes of each regions follow different patterns over time. However, it is possible to identify some trends among these regions, with a low rate of economic inequalities between 1975 and 1990, followed more recently by a general increase in economic inequalities since 2018 approximately.

As shown in the 3D scattered plot, a trend between regions is more difficult to interpret. Indeed, the rate of regions with similar income level range tends to vary quite a lot: for example, Europe have seen its rate of civil liberties increase, while it remained fairly similar in North America. similarly, while civil liberties increased in Africa over time, it actually decreased in Latin America - however, note that the rate of civil liberties remained higher in Latin America than in Africa at any time point. Concerning GNI per capita, trends are more present, with an fairly constant increase of this rate in each regions (although at various speed), followed by a slight decrease in the recent years (which thus seem to be inversely related to Gini Index, as this later indice increases in the recent years). Note that the years are ordered in data behind the graph, but the years displayed aside of it are wrong.

Gini Index and Civil liberties Index are respectively set as dependent and independent variables. The shaded area corresponds to the 95% confidence interval.

The quadratic model appears to be the best fit for describing the relationship between civil liberties and economic inequality, as indicated by an increase in R-squared compared to a linear model and minimal gains when using a cubic model. However, with an R-squared of 0.1859, the model explains only a modest portion of the variance in the Gini index, suggesting the need for additional variables to better capture the complexity of economic inequality.

The results suggest an inverted-U relationship between civil liberties and inequality, where increasing civil liberties initially leads to greater inequality until a threshold (i.e. 0.3996), beyond which further civil liberties reduce inequality. This relationship, while statistically significant, may not explain a large proportion of the variation on its own (R-squared value: 0.1859), highlighting the importance of considering other socio-economic factors.

GNI per capita, used as a control, also exhibits a non-linear relationship, where increases in GNI per capita initially reduce inequality but eventually lead to an increase after surpassing a certain point. This finding aligns with economic theories suggesting that the benefits of growth are not evenly distributed at higher income levels.

In conclusion, while the model yields statistically significant results, its relatively low explanatory power points to the need for a more comprehensive model, potentially incorporating other economic, social, and institutional factors.

Summary of the regression model

Call:
lm(formula = gini_index ~ poly(civlib_index, 2) + poly(gni_cap, 
    2), data = polymodel_data)

Residuals:
      Min        1Q    Median        3Q       Max 
-0.211533 -0.055819 -0.006021  0.043365  0.290981 

Coefficients:
                         Estimate Std. Error t value             Pr(>|t|)    
(Intercept)             0.3963043  0.0009516 416.460 < 0.0000000000000002 ***
poly(civlib_index, 2)1  0.4686898  0.1026272   4.567           0.00000503 ***
poly(civlib_index, 2)2 -1.0903858  0.0947317 -11.510 < 0.0000000000000002 ***
poly(gni_cap, 2)1      -2.7943535  0.1099847 -25.407 < 0.0000000000000002 ***
poly(gni_cap, 2)2       1.1686698  0.0860803  13.577 < 0.0000000000000002 ***
---
Signif. codes:  0 '***' 0.001 '**' 0.01 '*' 0.05 '.' 0.1 ' ' 1

Residual standard error: 0.08259 on 7528 degrees of freedom
Multiple R-squared:  0.1859,    Adjusted R-squared:  0.1855 
F-statistic: 429.8 on 4 and 7528 DF,  p-value: < 0.00000000000000022

A condensed dataset used in this dashboard is shown below, and can be downloaded as a CSV. For more detailed data on the indicator figuring in this dashboard, please visit the gapminder website.

Dataset

All data used in this dashboard is taken from the Gapminder website, which is an independent educational non-profit organization based in Sweden. It aims to combat global misconceptions by providing a fact-based worldview that everyone can understand. Founded in 2005 by Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund, and Ola Rosling, Gapminder uses reliable data to create engaging and easy-to-understand visualizations. Gapminder’s most notable tool, Gapminder World, allows users to explore historical data on various social, economic, and environmental indicators through interactive graphs.

Description of the variables:

Gini Index: The Gini Index is a measure of the level of inequality within a country. In other words, it is a statistical measure used to observe how a variable (e.g., wealth, income) is distributed across a population. The Gini Index is calculated using the Lorenz curve, which plots the cumulative share of income received by the population on the y-axis against the cumulative share of the population on the x-axis.

In the case of perfect equality, the Lorenz curve would be a straight line from the origin at a 45-degree angle, representing equal distribution. When inequality is present, the Lorenz curve bows below this line of equality, creating an area between the line of equality and the curve. The size of this area represents the Gini Index.

The Gini Index ranges between 0 and 1:

A Gini Index of 0 represents perfect equality, where everyone has the same income or wealth. A Gini Index of 1 represents perfect inequality, where all income or wealth is held by a single individual. Here is a video that explains how the Gini Index is calculated:

Civil Liberties Index: The civil liberties subattribute denotes the extent to which civil rights and liberties are respected. The five civil liberties sub-components are freedom of expression, freedom of association and assembly, freedom of religion, freedom of movement, and personal integrity and security, each of which reflects core concepts in the human rights literature. The five sub-components were aggregated into the civil liberties subattribute using BFA.

GNI per capita: GNI per capita (formerly GNP per capita) is the gross national income, converted to U.S. dollars using the World Bank Atlas method, divided by the midyear population. GNI is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from abroad.